The “Tell” – Springdell Summer CSA Pickup #16

Hi everyone, Jess here. Hope you all had a wonderful week! The week flew by here, and most of the cooking was done on the fly in between other adventures. We just got back from a quick day and a half jaunt to Vermont, which was beautiful! We found some of the prettiest foliage on the trek down Rt. 119 just over the border when heading back into Massachusetts. We love exploring the states, but there’s no place like home!

Doesn’t this display of veggies sum up autumn? I love how the veggies this time of year lend themselves to a slightly longer shelf life, allowing you to hunker down a little more easily food-wise. The fall flavors remind me of a comfy warm blanket.

We picked a chicken from the farm stand on Monday. Farmer Jamie is working with Farmer Ryan from Lilac Hedge Farm, who takes great pride in the ethics of the animals he is raising. Also pictured are some quick mashed potatoes (made with baking potatoes and thickened up with cream, as my son was really craving mashed potatoes) and some string beans (several of you have reported roasting your fall beans with great success, thanks for sharing!)

Overnight, I simmered some stock from the chicken carcass, and measured this into one cup and four cup portions before tossing it in the freezer. This will be great for using over the winter months in soups and simmers. The remaining chicken meat went into a Waldorf Chicken salad (not pictured) and my son enjoyed some as-is on Brussels sprouts day.

When in a time crunch, I’ll just roast the squashes and pumpkins whole before peeling and de-seeding. If you catch them at the right time during cooking, you can peel the skin off almost in a sheet, and de-seed with ease. More on these later…

I used some of the Chicken Pot Pie leftovers with last season’s cranberries. Chicken pot pie with some of the leftovers, and last season’s cranberries. Because yesterday’s gravy went, I puréed a little buttercup squash into the stock to make the pie gravy. I almost got caught given the yellow color of the gravy, but my pot pie lovers couldn’t resist!

This was a random but tasty lunch option- sautéed Brussels sprouts with Marsala cream (the last from that broken bottle of Marsala I needed to use up). The cream sauce was mixed with puréed buttercup squash previously roasted with browned butter and sage. Cranberries added just because, tossed with leftover pasta, but would have been awesome with squash noodles too.

Fajita Friday! Bell peppers (pickling the bananas), onions and boneless chuck. My go-to seasoning ratio is 1 part cumin to 3 parts chili powder, then whatever else I decide to throw in. The lettuce and my last fresh tomato went onto the table for toppings.

About Jess

Jess Anderson is the creator of CSA|365 and is passionate about the local food movement. A busy mother of two, Jess loves keeping her family fed by honest local food. She is involved with the Westford Community Garden Working Group, Friends of Fat Moon, and is the current chair of the Westford Strawberries 'N Arts Festival.